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I came across a PL1 transposition tower purely by chance a few years ago near Warrington on one of the lines near there. A swift diversion down the road enabled me to bag some photos of the tower for reference. Not being used for transposition anymore but still odd looking towers. Emperor Ming I think I saw someone on the PAS forum describe them as lol. Cheers Paul

From memory they are considered to be L8s just can't remember exact spec now. The Creyke Beck to Saltend line towers have been altered at least once if old OS maps are correct and ran to a more southerly route before being changed to the alignment seen now. There was some condition on these towers being used. And then more recently they re-used the design on the aforementioned Thurso line. Hmm L8RD reduced design? Cheers Paul PS on the L2s there are three EC designs - EC stands for Earthwire Changeover and comes in D0, D20 and D40 versions though I've only ever seen D40EC towers so far.

I believe that c.20k models were produced in all based on what a Hatton's employee told me some years ago so a thousand per model code. Given the high amount of resales on the bay, they seem to have a good interest still. I was thinking more like £40 to £50 if they produce more as the world is a different place than it was back in 2018. I will keep tinkering and modifying the ones I have to expand my fleet for my needs. Paul

Prices vary for single wagons between £36 and £78 at present on that auction site. Last I heard, Hatton's owned all of the hopper tooling outright and so not sure what would happen if they wanted to rerun these models using a different factory? I haven't seen any announcements about new batches but I reckon gone are the days of £24 or £25 priced models. Cheers Paul

Yes there a few L4 towers that are used in a modified form usually to replace former PL1 S towers where diversion or replacement has been necessary in the past. There are several I can think of on the line that now runs from Runcorn down towards Crewe via Winsford then on towards Stafford although the southern part is largely now gone and I think used to go to Buildwas power station. Some L4 towers in S form have popped up on this line over the years. When I get onto my laptop I will have a dig around for photos and diagrams and see what I can find and PM you. Cheers Paul

Looking good Caz, I managed to photograph and record what I could on these wagons many years ago when the wagons were stored on site, so I'm guessing around 2008 maybe? I visited with the late Peter Midwinter, as at the time he was looking to model them and so Anglesey Aluminium were more than happy to accommodate our visit on both occasions and we even managed to time it with the Aluminium billet train that ran on a Saturday too. I will watch with interest. Cheers Paul

Yep getting official drawings seems rather hard these days. I have too seen hints and suggestions of others having drawings or access to them and suggestions to make them available for the wider use seems to fall on deaf ears hmm. The PL1 S series seems hard to come by on paper. Yes much confusion about the different PL1 types I agree. It is a pity the Tower Bible was not the complete version that was obtained and uploaded to the PAS forum but still useful nonetheless. Cheers Paul

Ah sanity lol.... yes I wonder about mine too sometimes! But I just enjoy researching the British tower designs and lines too much lol. The L2 D40 EC is a version used where the two circuits can deviate in different directions away from the tower. Often used on the approach to substations. At first glance they appear like a D30 with the angled top peak but feature squared off end crossarms. A pair are used on the River Tyne crossing and can be found on google earth. Paul Rees aka Pylon King may well still hopefully have the original image files that he uploaded. Cheers Paul

Hi Daniel, an interesting site indeed, the more information the better. One tower that does seem to be an anomaly is the L2 with extended middle crossarms as so far no evidence has emerged for this design actually being built. But it does share some similarities with the L6 in size and shape. One day something might come to light. Cheers Paul

70016 was on the loaded Northenden to Runcorn Folly Lane and then another one on the Brindle Heath to RFL loaded train according to info from a friend tonight. Cheers Paul

Nice to get a mention from David in this book and acknowledging my book on the I.C.I. Hopper wagons. It is well worth the cover price for the information and drawings and I have already spotted a few things in there too including some I.C.I. internal user hopper wagons. Cheers Paul

Teeny tiny correction to the list, the Hazel Grove & District MRS layout is actually called Smethurst Junction 🙂. Looking forward to helping the team run Smethurst Junction again and finally getting the chance to see Chapel-en-le-Frith too - Leeds and Hazel Grove usually have their exhibitions the same weekend. Cheers Paul

There is this odd looking L2 DT type with pointed end crossarms up near Dalry on Mains Burn lane... the one on the left is an ordinary looking D90 of course. Same two lines coming out of Hunterston. I think those two new L8s at Hunterston is for the Western HV link scheme?

What about the Madeley to Silverdale line? Looks as if the track is still in situ from the former chord from the WCML running towards Silverdale but beyond that has gone now and the link to WCML taken out. Not much left of the Skelton Jn to Glazebrook line now only runs to Broadheath ish. Cheers Paul

They have se weird L2 n L3 tower arrangements in Scotland. They don't seem to like using DJT tee towers at all and there are some very odd tee arrangements lol

Yes there are a pair of odd looking river crossing towers over the Trent near to Winterton, not quite L8 as seem to have an extention inserted from what I recall when saw it up close some years ago now with the newer L12s alongside the original L6 line. Yep the Penw to Hambledon tee and Stanah L8 line has L8 river crossing towers.

Yes I've noticed those in the past when I did a sweep of the Scottish 275/400kV systems. The first image shows what looks like one of the L2 DT towers but with angled instead of the more familar curved angled crossarm tops. The two crossing towers looks like L6 type origin rather than L8. Have a look at the River Ribble crossing just downstream of Preston to see some L8 river towers. Cheers Paul

I am sure I read somewhere that the vans in the Sulphur traffic to Amlwch were used to convey the tarpaulins on the return empty journey back to Mostyn Docks. Bogie ferryvans were used as noted in a previous reply to take aluminium ingots from the AA plant onwards to Europe I believe. Cement in PCAs was for a short time unloaded at a temporary termimal established near Conwy Morfa when that part of the A55 road was being constructed. Both these were collected using a Speedlink trip working iirc too - I'm sure there is a photo in a book somewhere showing this. HTH Paul

Thanks Ben, it was touch and go as to whether I would get bowled by the late Manchester train formed of two 150/1s that you would have waited and then followed towards Northenden Jn.! But fortunately the driver and conductor didn't dawdle too long and got out my way haha. It sounds like it was a wonderful day out. Hmm Hopper Haunts mini-tour... lol. Cheers Paul

I popped over to my local at Northwich to see the special in the rain as per the attached photos. I got a few waves from those stood/sat inside Caroline but couldn't make out who they were but I did wave back whilst filming. Cheers Paul

Hmm interesting 🤔 that kind of goes against what information I have been able glean over the years on this event i.e. the Black 5 hauling the 25 and the hoppers. One of the then managers David (surname escapes me) is on record as saying that he got a bollocking on the Monday morning once word got back to HQ about what happened on the Sunday. Nearly 42 years ago now too. Have you any written or photographic evidence to confirm the Black 5 hauled the hoppers again after Sunday 18th May 1980? Cheers Paul

Close it was Black 5 no. 5000 that was ahem commandeered to assist a supposedly ailing Class 25 through Northwich on the 18th May 1980 on the weekend of the shed open day. These photo links to Flickr by midcheshireman illustrates the deed Second photo is by Chris Ravenscroft according to the Flickr caption text. Cheers Paul

Cheers must have missed that one my new posts feed seems to be a bit ka-ka at present. Cheers Paul

I finished reading this issue last night and it was late and yes my eyes might have been tired lol but does every issue have the two picture captions on page 75 written in Latin in the article on West Coast -Southern Section by Andrew Armitage? Cheers Paul

I too visited the Preston show today the first time since 2016. I bumped into several fellow modellers I know for the first time in a while. I thought the trade stands were a good mix and spent some cash with Squires and another stand, where I brought an unboxed Bachmann fitted Tube wagon. Cheers Paul